On Monday night, Tennessee's House of Representatives passed a bill that would let cities and counties ban smoking on playgrounds they own or operate.

After a few brief questions about its scope, House Bill 0389, sponsored by Rep. Rick Staples, D-Knoxville, passed with 64 votes in favor and 25 against; seven representatives were present but didn't vote.

Briggs had sponsored the bill, which originally applied only to Knoxville and Knox County, in previous years, but it had failed.

This year, however, its reception was good enough that the House version of the bill passed with an amendment to allow other cities and counties statewide to opt in.

"It’s such a simple bill, you wouldn’t think it would take this long to get it through," Briggs, a cardiothoracic surgeon who has sponsored other legislation reducing or policing smoking, said. "All we wanted to do is to put up a no smoking sign on the playgrounds."

In the amended House bill, at least two-thirds of a municipality's ruling board must approve the ban, which applies only to playgrounds owned or operated by that municipality. The ban on smoking would apply only to the playground area of a park; it would not cover other areas of multi-use or large parks — for example, the 4,500-acre Shelby Farms in Memphis.

The fiscal note on the bill estimates a one-time $4,800 cost for two $25 signs per playground and said that since cities and counties were likely to use local businesses to create the signs, there would be a positive economic impact.

Revenue produced by fines for violating the law would likely be "not significant," it said. Neither bill suggests an amount for fines, implying it would be up to municipalities to set their own.

'Step in right direction'

Karen Tindal, chair of the local bipartisan nonprofit Smoke Free Knoxville coalition, called the legislation "a step in the right direction" and "a way to start the conversation," saying it will cut down not only on secondhand smoke but on the amount of litter around playgrounds.

Tindal said although the bill applies only to playgrounds owned or operated by local governments, private playgrounds might follow suit.

"I would like to think that privately owned playgrounds would look at it and say, 'Hey, this is what the local community wants,'" she said.

J.C. Hoff of the Fountain City Lions Club, which owns a popular North Knoxville playground that's one of the city's largest, said although he "personally" would be in favor of banning smoking on the playground, "that would have to go before our board and be debated." So far, he said, it hasn't.

Briggs said while opioid-related deaths continue to be a concern in Tennessee, "you could multiply that number" — more than 1,250 in 2017 — "by nine or 10" to get the number of Tennesseans who die from smoking-related causes, including lung cancer, heart attacks, strokes, kidney cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder, and head and neck cancers.